PITTSFIELD — Passion and sincere concern over the future of the public school system sparked a buzz at a public forum Saturday morning at the South Congregational Church.
About 20 people, including teachers, children and residents who expressed distress with the state of public school systems, attended the forum, which was sponsored by the Western Area Office of the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ.
Many expressed particular concern about the No Child Left Behind Act.
"Let's not forget how all this is affecting the kids," said Ann Roche, who came with her daughters, Alexandra, 11, a sixth grader at Reid Middle School, and Rachaleanne, 9, a fourth grader at Stearns.
"The teachers are stressed and it's funneling down to the kids,†Roche said. “The curriculum is moving so fast that they are trying to teach a subject a day. The kids are up until midnight, giving up musical instruments and other important extracurricular activities just to stay on top of the four hours of homework."
Jan W. Ressiger, moderator of the Berkshire Association of the United Church of Christ and long-time public school activist, led the informal meeting, which began with her providing a brief informational review of studies and statistics from other public schools that are suffering similar problems across the country.
Ressiger and a denomination-wide public education task force have engaged in "immersion-discernment visits" to public school in Philadelphia, Cleveland, Portland (Oregon) and rural North Carolina.
Many attending Saturday’s forum voiced concern over the effect on children of the high-stakes Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test (MCAS) and other standardized barometers of achievement.
"Something is wrong," Roche said. "Something is broken and we need to figure out how to fix it."
Ressiger cited recent statistics on the causes of teen death that suggested concern is warranted.
"The second largest cause of death in young adults aged 14 to 19 years old is suicide," she said. "This is not a segregated issue. It's not just single-parent homes or low-income families. We cannot improve children by simply commanding they do better."
The crowd broke up into three small groups to complete a questionnaire, prioritizing out of a choice of 12 what they felt were the three most important issues needing immediate attention regarding schools. The groups had trouble limiting their priorities to just three, in some cases combining more than one question when they felt the issues were linked.
They had no trouble making the choice for the number one priority among all three groups, which was, "How can citizens find effective ways to speak to problems in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) without seeming to advocate for lowering standards and expectations?" They combined that with the question "What can we do to ameliorate the effects of so much standardized testing?"
All three groups said those were the issues of major concern and warned that if people do not support the act, they are often viewed as supporting lower expectations and standards in schools.
"There seems to be this ‘soft bigotry’ of low expectations towards people who don't go for the NCLB," Ressiger said.
Another priority that made the top-three list was "How can we help parents, guardians and other significant adults play a more significant role in the education of their children?" The groups modified the question to include teachers and stressed the need for parental and other adult involvement with students as critical.
The third priority was, "In our state, how can we advocate for a level of taxation that supports public institutions we need, like excellent schools in these times, when people seem anti- tax?" This was combined with another question the group considered the same topic: "What can we do to address inadequate and inequitably distributed school funding?"
The majority of the group said that they would not mind paying higher taxes if the funds were in fact going to the public schools.
"There is an enormous underground economy that works in the school district, with hundreds of thousands of dollars being funneled into programs not otherwise covered," said Quentin Chin, moderator of for the United Church of Christ.
“Wealthier communities can afford to fund these underground economies, and in one area, school money had to be raised to buy math books just to have a quality math curriculum,†Chin said.
Two more concerns to emerge were, "How can our nation close the ‘achievement gaps’ and support children who have fallen behind academically?" and "How can we support teachers in these times of the pressures of test-based accountability?"
According to the three groups, accountability is what the No Child Left Behind Act is all about, and they said children should be treated as human beings, not numbers.
Tora Huntington, a second grade teacher at Craneville School in Dalton, said she believes the issue boils down to a question of what is good for the children versus accountability.
"Accountability doesn't ask what's good for the kids," she said. "Accountability is a poison word to me. It sounds like it would be good for children, it sells very well, but the result is proving to be stress on the parents, the teachers and the children."
John Robertson, a congregation member, added that accountability is causing schools to be "always looking for the great press opportunities and photo-ops to say 'Look what wonderful things we are doing' because the schools need to look good. There needs to be a balance of things: being truly wonderful versus the pressure of looking good."
Thomas Tarjck, a seventh grader at Reid Middle School, who attended with his mother, Nancy, said, "Teachers are trying to push kids to their limits and it's really hard on kids."
When asked what he thought about all the excitement coming from the adults in the room, he said, "It sounds like the grownups really care."
Roche said that is why she brought her daughters to the meeting.
"I really think it's important for them to see that there are other adults out there who truly care about their education and well-being," she said. "They feel like we have to care because we're their parents, but this way they see that people are really trying to make things better and I feel like it's really important."
Ressiger concluded the forum by compiling “action steps†to help deal with the issues raised. The steps included exploring, educating, framing, tracking down cynicism and getting politicians to be truthful about where they are headed with regard to education.
Ressiger will conduct future forums in Springfield and Framingham and plans to compile information for a report in June outlining the concerns in different, yet similarly struggling communities, and ways to deal with those concerns as individuals, groups and communities.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
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Lanesborough Town Meeting to Vote Budget, Bylaws & Vehicle Purchases
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Tuesday's annual town meeting includes a $14 million operating budget, new short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units and sign bylaws, and free cash article appropriations.
Voters will gather at Lanesborough Elementary School on June 9 at 6 p.m. to decide on 20 warrant articles.
The fiscal 2027 budget is up a little over 10 percent. Some of the main increases are the Mount Greylock Regional School District and McCann Technical School: the McCann assessment is up more than 30 percent based on factors including enrollment and the school renovation project, and Mount Greylock's is up 11 percent.
Article 11 is for the town to vote to approve from free cash the sum of $16,298.48 for the McCann Technical School roof and window replacement project so as not to impact the budget. Article 3 is appropriate $7,586,284 for Mount Greylock Regional School assessment.
Another notable increase was in life and health insurance, showing an increase of about 26 percent.
Ambulance Director Jen Weber is planning 24-hour coverage, which means more staff and a hike in her budget. One of the articles asks the town to appropriate $234,100 to operate the Ambulance Enterprise Fund for salaries and expenses.
Many town departments are looking for new vehicles. The Fire Department is looking to replace its outdated 1996 fire engine. There are two articles related to the truck at a total of $813,366. Article 12 would transfer $225,000 from free cash into the Fire Truck Stabilization Fund; Article 13 would transfer $605,000 from the fund and authorize the borrowing of $208,366.08.
The total includes a $100,000 contingency cost to cover any additional costs if a 2026 model-year chassis cannot be secured before new emissions standards go into effect in 2027.
The board at its last meeting moved the $225,000 transfer to come before the borrowing article, changing the stabilization number. If the $225,000 is not voted on, then they will amend the next article's number on the floor, subtracting the $225,000. This shows the borrowing number significantly lower.
Article 17 asks for the transfer of $80,000 from free cash to replace a police cruiser.
Police Chief Rob Derksen's aim is to replace one vehicle every other year, meaning the oldest vehicle gets replaced about every 10 years.
He stressed that if delayed this year, the town may have to double up in a future year to get back on schedule, and that paying later usually costs more. The article will ask for $80,000 from free cash, the vehicles used to be funded by the BHRD.
Lastly, the Highway Department is looking to replace a 2014 International dump truck that will be a total of $330,000 and will take two to three years to receive.
Money will be used from last year's approval of $250,000 from free cash for the replacement of a 2012 highway front-end loader that was underspent $49,261. Town meeting is being asked to approve a transfer of $53,274.85 from free cash and the use of $227,464 from funds from the Sale of Town Real Estate to fund the balance.
Other free cash proposals include $1,200 to purchase software to support tracking and ongoing maintenance schedules of town-owned vehicles; $42,000 for the replacement of the Highway Department's storage shed roof, $200,000 to reduce the tax levy.
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